Haute Couture S/S 2019 — No Star Born
Haute Couture season started on January 6th, when Lady Gaga arrived at the Golden Globes wearing a pale blue Maison Valentino gown, a $3 million Tiffany & Co necklace and matching blue hair. Gaga swayed and posed on the red carpet, trying to maneuver a cape the size of a parachute. It was an impossibly grand entrance to an auditorium the size of a regular hotel dining room. While everyone gasped at the sight of such lofty luxury, I thought that when the only thing left to upstage is the actual red carpet, there might be time for stylists and couturiers to take a pause and reconsider their choices. Then again, it is Couture and it is Paris and we are breathlessly awaiting to be swept off our feet and forget daily life that is altogether devoid of glamour. So to Paris, we go to see what our superheroes of fashion’s own Marvel Universe came up to inspire and provoke us for Spring/Summer 2019.
Schiaparelli and Giambattista Valli opened the week with collections that pushed the idea that Theater is what Haute Couture is and, by god, they will deliver. At Schiaparelli, Bertrand Guyon’s collection was inspired by porcelain. The show’s interesting openers where overshadowed by a couple of stylist mistakes, as in the cowboy boots the models wore in the opening: the tops were Schiaparelli, the bottoms were Calvin Klein by Raf Simons (another recent fashion casualty). Within a few exits though Guyon hit his stride, with gorgeous ornamentation, fabrics, and colors. Fabrics hand painted with astrological maps — one of Mme Schiaparelli’s favorite motifs — and marabou feathers, were modern and inventive.
At Valli, the familiar tulle dresses with the short/long hemlines reappeared with somewhat of a vengeance. Valli trained at Ungaro and there was a hint of Ungaro in some of the designer’s fabric and embroidery choices. Every model wore a fez hat, a rather failed attempt to impart exoticism to a collection that was more Paris than Istanbul. I can’t help to consider Valli as a rather bourgeois couturier who would be better served producing less elaborate couture garments.
The Theater moved to Dior in the form of a Circus. Maria Grazia Chiuri is still trying to find her stride at Dior. The mood was dark and somber and some pretty dresses and excellent Dior draping were hidden behind the presentation’s unnecessarily heavy thematic elements.
The young models look sad and misplaced in heavy dark kohl pencil, tight swimming sequined caps, and dark veils; a bit of Louise Brooks going to the circus. I miss the days when girls could add to the desire of couture. A quick Instagram search to photos from the 1990s when Naomi and Tatjana walked for Ferre at Dior and you’ll get what I mean. It’s hard to sell Haute Couture when clothes are presented in deliberately drab environments.
The Chanel bomb of the week fell when KL failed to appear at the end of the show. KL’s succession was the buzz for several days after Couture. Karl cited health and fatigue issues and his absence created waves in the fashion press unlike any collection could ever do however brilliant. And Chanel was rather brilliant this season, an Italian-inspired continuation to the designer’s Metiers D’Art collection he presented in New York in December. Nobody cuts a jacket like Karl, but there were also standout dresses in this collection that will be copied for seasons to come. The show’s finale was a glitter bodysuit-swimsuit with a veil. The bride sparkled. Take that, Dior!
Clare Waight Keller and Iris van Herpen presented collections plucked from the future. At Givenchy, Keller’s Haute Couture atelier must be an operating theater equipped with a Gamma knife. Such glossy precision! The house’s famous Bettina blouse made a quick, well-judged reappearance. The color and material selections — glossy latex bodysuits under gowns — had a Galliano for Dior circa 2003 vibe. Search Dior Haute Couture 2003 to see what I mean. Nevertheless, this is a designer to watch and someone who understands what Modern Chic means in 2019 and is not afraid to stick to classic codes to prove her point.
Iris van Herpen, on the other hand, was busy building elaborate, laser cut fabric structures, defying gravity as well as conventions. To watch this fabric sculptress show her Couture extreme engineering is one of the real treats of being a lover of real fashion. The collection’s juxtaposition of structure and flow were in perfect symmetry in this collection. Nothing was out of proportion. I would love to see a bridal collection from this designer. I know she would recode the entire vocabulary of bridal style. Viktor & Rolf did a brilliant bridal collection so I hope Iris gets the message and starts experimenting.
Then on to Valentino where Pierpaolo Piccioli’s palette was once again on steroids. Is there an algorithm that picks these colors? If there isn’t one, there should be. The Valentino goddess is again very chaste this season. Oversized gowns with a ’70s vibe warned: Don’t get too close! Naomi Campbell walked the finale in a black chiffon dress and with such immaculate beauty, poise, posture, you name it, you have it, there should have been a thunderclap to accompany that exit. All kidding aside, Valentino never disappoints. Unless you are accepting an award at the Beverly Hills Hotel in January.
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